Nothing Else
by flightlesslove
Summary: When Grace is pulled unexpectedly into Edward's world of the extraordinary and beautiful, she finds it all too easy to adapt. But is she relying too much on his presence in her world? All-human.
1. Chapter 1

Everywhere I looked I saw him, and every time I closed my eyes, his face appeared before me. There were times when we sat together in silence and I studied his face so closely because, when the inevitable end came, I didn't want to forget the way he looked, or the sound of his voice, or the way his lips felt on mine. "Us" wasn't supposed to happen. We weren't supposed to love each other.

In this world, nothing is as it seems. For example, the day I met Edward Cullen:

The morning I awoke to was as miserable as my thoughts. The sky wept heavier tears than I would have thought possible. As I unwillingly rose from my blanket cocoon and walked to the bathroom, my mind was far away from the monotonous morning routine. My thoughts resided in the dense green setting of my dreams the night before.

I was alone in the darkness.

The walls of flora were quickly closing in on me.

Everything was about to end. I closed my eyes and wished to be somewhere, anywhere else.

Then suddenly there was light radiating from...from something, something that had parted the trees by its mere presence. SomeONE as it was. A he, I realized once I could finally see his face. Oh, he was beautiful! With mesmerizing butterscotch eyes, he was godlier than any human I'd ever seen.

And in an instant he was gone. Like lightning, vanishing before you can truly appreciate the beauty.

I stood in the bathroom and studied myself closely in the mirror, sighing. If this gorgeous creature existed, there was no way he'd ever be interested in me. I was utterly average, average AND uninteresting. I had to stop myself before the self-hatred got too out of hand. After showering quickly, I dressed in an everyday outfit: blue skinny jeans and a gray long sleeve shirt. I pulled my dark curls back into a plain barrette. I wore no makeup. Everything about the way I looked was designed to attract the least amount of attention possible. It usually worked.

Breakfast and the drive to school passed uneventfully. I realized on arriving in the school parking lot that, not having even glanced at a clock this morning, I was very early. Despite this, I climbed on out of the old Rabbit anyway, yawning heavily.

At that moment, something caught my eye in at the far end of the lot. Jesus Christ, that car! I've never known much about cars, but I knew for a fact that that one must have cost more than I would ever be able to afford. The bright red paint job was what first attracted my gaze, but now an entirely different object held my attention.

A gorgeous, pale creature walking with the grace of a...a...there was nothing to even compare it to. Maybe there was, but I couldn't think properly, at least not with him standing there, so near.

No. No! It couldn't be real. HE couldn't be real. But there he was; butterscotch eyes staring intently into mine. It was when I noticed he was walking toward me that I began to hyperventilate. No, he wasn't walking, he was running. Why was he running?

Wait. I could now see a second amazing man running toward me, almost as beautiful as the first. The difference was that his eyes weren't sweet and golden like the other's, they were a flat black that held nothing but anger and...something else I couldn't quite place.

The next thing I knew, I was knocked to the pavement. My head slammed against the ground. I was only vaguely aware of the fight going on just above me as my head spun, and I slipped into unconsciousness.

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My eyes flashed open to bright sunshine pouring in through a wall of windows. My head was pounding as I slowly pulled myself up to a sitting position in the enormous, soft bed I was in. Oh no. Where was I? What happened? Nothing made sense. That's when I began to panic.

There was a quick knock on the door, and the breathtaking butterscotch eyes were on me again. My mind, of course, went blank.

"I know you're confused, Grace," he said. Although his tone sounded exhausted, his voice was so smooth, like silk on bare skin; too perfect for words. "I'll explain everything. My name is Edward Cullen."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry i forgot the disclaimer on the first chapter, but here it is and it goes for the whole story. Stephenie meyer owns everything that i don't. **

**Please read and review.**

**Thank you for your time.**

ch 2

And there he was, close enough to touch, though I wouldn't dare try. He sat at the end of the bed, his porcelain forehead creased with worry.

"What happened this morning is difficult to explain." he said in a voice so musical I could barely concentrate on the words. "So, can we leave that explanation for later?"

"You'll have to tell me eventually." I knew that I shouldn't just go along with everything he said, however tempting it was.

"Of course," He looked up at me. In an instant, his eyes turned from diamond-hard to liquid gold. "I'll drive you home when school lets out. My sister, Alice, left you some clothes on the end table. Yours got pretty torn up on the pavement. Just come downstairs when you're finished dressing."

"Wait," I said frantically, "How do you know my name? You...I mean, I never told you." I was not going to let him get away without an answer.

"Relax, Grace. Everything will make sense, I promise." And I did as he said.

With that he stood and left the room, swiftly shutting the door behind him. Why did he get to be so graceful? I stared at the door for a few seconds, wondering how my well-being could be of any concern to Edward Cullen.

Pushing the various blows to my self-confidence out of my thoughts, I slid out of bed and looked at the clothes laid before me. I had to suppress a chuckle as I pulled on the gray sweats. Someone here had obviously known I was coming.

I crept down the stairs, careful to make as little noise as possible. I couldn't bear to disturb the extreme quiet of this house.

But as I got closer to the ground floor, I began to hear angry murmurs. There was a man's voice, which was very calm, and a woman's voice, colored with rage. Entering the living room, I looked sheepishly to the man. He smiled welcomingly at me and said "Hello Grace! We have a lot to discuss, don't we?"

"Um… I guess?" was all I could manage.

The girl whose voice I'd heard before gave me a furious look and stormed out of the room.

"Please excuse Rosalie. She doesn't take to strangers very well. My name is Carlisle, I'm Edward's father. Well, father of sorts."

"Carlisle took me in." Edward sat on a couch on the far side if the room. "He took all of us in. Anyone else would send us to the psych ward, but Carlisle teaches us to control whatever special quality we have." Although he stared at the floor all the while, he spoke of Carlisle with utter respect.

The more he spoke, the more questions arose. "Wait, who is 'all of us?' and what kind of 'special qualities?'"

"By all of us we mean: Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett, and I." He paused and looked at me apprehensively. "Well...I can read minds. But Alice, Alice can see the future..." he trailed off and looked at me as though I might spontaneously combust any second. "And now you think I'm crazy."

I bit my lip. I admit, that thought had briefly crossed my mind. If he was telling me the truth, there was no way to lie to him. "I think the situation is crazy. I'm wondering if I can believe you or trust you." How could I even consider the possibility that he could read my mind? It was insane, and stupid and... and... I believed him. I could hear the honesty in his voice, and his face was only searching for my approval.

He looked to me with eyes that seemed to beg forgiveness. "Jasper's situation, however, isn't nearly as easy to explain."

Carlisle laid a hand on Edward's shoulder and turned to me. "But perhaps that conversation should be between you and Jasper. He won't be back for a few days. He's gone to visit family."

"Alright. Okay. What about Rosalie?" My head was spinning.

"Oh. Rosalie is actually more, um, 'normal' than any of us, except for Emmett, of course. But I don't think she would appreciate us discussing that behind her back." Edward seemed to hold so many secrets. But how couldn't he, if he could see into the minds of other people, and thus see each person's unsavory truths.

"And Emmett?"

"Emmett." Edward smiled thoughtfully. He was truly magnificent. "Emmett is sort of like a nurse here, although he does pay more attention than is absolutely necessary to Rosalie, on occasion."

"I can hear you! And I'll kill you!" A husky voice called from around the corner. When I turned around, I saw a burly boy entering the room, a playful smile lighting his face. "But I'm not denying it." He added with a wink. "Hi, I'm Emmett."

"Grace." I replied. "Nice to meet you." It was impossible not to smile at him.

"Well, I've got to go...play doctor." And up the stairs he went.

Edward groaned. For half a second his eyes were on mine, before they flicked to Carlisle's. He gave a small nod, and then turned back to me.

"Grace, would you like to go to the beach with Alice and me? I'd like to introduce you to some of our friends." His expression was pure and hopeful.

"Sure. Yeah, that sounds nice." I tried not to sound as thrilled as I really felt. "Which beach?"

"First Beach, in La Push."

As if on cue, a short, spiky-haired girl sped down the stairs and stood by the door, holding out her hand for me. "Well? Are you coming, or not?"


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Alice's POV

Grace was a surprise, period. Neither Jasper nor Edward planned for more than a half-second to have anything to do with her. I begged to go away with Jasper, but he refused.  
But regardless of what Grace's entrance into our lives had caused, I couldn't harbor bad feelings for her. I could see how Edward felt. In truth, Jasper had had many outbursts like this one. He would always recover quickly, but Edward had never taken this kind of an interest in a girl before. I was thrilled to know that they would be happy together.

Grace's POV

The ride to the beach might've been awkward without Alice's interrogation. She wanted to know everything about me; about my friends, my parents, and hobbies. I answered as truthfully as I could. We had a human lie detector in to car. My friends? I didn't understand them and they didn't understand me. My parents? Wonderful; I couldn't ask for better. They were 110% supportive of me in whatever endeavor I chose. Hobbies? I read. Does that count? I'd been on a soccer team as a child, but I tended to knock myself and other players down. One broken wrist later and we decided it was safer for everyone if I left the team.

Edward smiled where Alice laughed. They both seemed amused where they ought to have. But then Edward threw me for a loop with a question that never failed to embarrass me.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Way to be blunt, Ed.

"Oh. Well. No. I've kind of never had a boyfriend." He knew the answer already. Why did he have to make me say it aloud? He gave me a sly little smile before returning his eyes to the road. Mine followed, and I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that we had arrived at our destination.

Stepping out of the car, I took a deep breath of the salty air. This place was beautiful. I couldn't believe I'd never been here before, it was truly magnificent. Alice quickly grabbed my hand and ran me down to sit on the beach, just out of reach of the waves that lapped up softly. Edward wasn't far behind, but he opted to stand, rather than sit. Looking up at him from the ground, cliffs rising in the distance behind him, the view was picturesque. We sat in contented silence for what could have been days, until I heard someone approaching us from behind. Turning, I saw a dark and scruffy-looking teenage boy heading in our direction. His long, black hair was blowing in the slight wind. He looked so familiar...

"Grace," Edward began, "this is Jacob Black."

"Jacob!" Oh, it had been years since I'd seen him. He looked more like a man than like the boy I remembered playing with as a child. Our mothers had been best friends. Whenever my mother went to visit, I would beg to come along. But after Jacob's mother died, mine made her trips alone. I guess he just disappeared from my life, one day. I was absolutely ecstatic to have him back.

"Grace Benning?" He looked just as surprised as I was.

I jumped up and hugged him so tightly I thought he should have protested, but he only pulled me closer to him. When I finally let go of him and pulled away, he simply asked, "Where have you been?"

"Ha! At home, mainly. You were almost the only friend I ever made plans with." It was now, as he smiled at my antisocial nature, that I realized just how much I'd missed him over the years.

We spent the next hour sitting on the beach, laughing about... well, everything. It was good to be in the company of a true friend, once again. Edward and Alice talked about the years of Jacob that I'd missed, and I told him about the nothingness that my life had become. We were a perfectly functional group of friends. I was so happy living in the moment that I forgot to even look forward to how great things were going to be from now on. But time passed quickly and before I knew it, the time came to leave for home. I gave Jake another hug and he went on his way, turning back more than once before reaching his truck.

The ride home was nearly the same as the ride to the beach. Alice ambushed me with questions. I barely paid attention to the answers I gave her, because my mind was somewhere else. Jacob was so much like a brother to me, I couldn't believe I'd just let that kind of relationship fall to pieces. I then held up the kind of love I felt for Jacob to the inexplicable attachment I felt with Edward. I realized, too late, that I may as well have been speaking all of these thoughts aloud. But when I looked to Edward, his expression was almost pleased. I thought that Alice must have been thinking something nice. Just as I grew frustrated with the questions, the car stopped abruptly in front of my house.  
Alice turned toward me and said, "I hope you had a nice time, Grace. We'll see you soon." She glanced to Edward.

"If that's okay?" I didn't want to just force myself into their lives. Edward turned to me and smiled so much with his eyes, that I barely noticed his perfect, snow-white teeth.

I stepped out of the car to a slight drizzle of rain, then bent to see Edward's face and say.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, for everything. Today was truly amazing." I knew he could see the truth in my words, so I hastily closed the car door and scurried to my front door, as the rain began to pick up. In the few steps to my front door, I was soaked. I stepped inside, closed and dead bolted the door, and hurried up to my room. I set my mp3 player to a mellow but upbeat song and turned the volume down to background noise.

Oh, today had been something.

_Something old...  
_

My Jacob Black.

_Something new..._

Edward and his extraordinary family.

_Something borrowed..._

Alice's now-sopping sweatpants and jacket.

_And something..._

Blue.

A small blue package lay on my bed, with a scrap of paper beside it.

From Jacob, it read.


	4. Chapter 4

ch4

How on earth...?

And there it lay on the bed, begging to be ripped open. I stepped toward the bed apprehensively, but with uncontainable excitement.

Oh, nothing was going to jump out at me! I leapt at that little blue box and yanked the top off.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!" A shower of silver streamers came bursting forth. "Hahaha! Jacob Black!" I'd have to remember to yell at him later. The question of how it got here would have to remain unanswered for the moment, and i was simply too exhausted to worry over it.

I dragged my feet on the way to the bathroom. A nice hot shower was exactly how I wanted to end this day. When i saw myself in the mirror, I laughed. I had streamers in my hair evrywhere on top of its already messy state. There was something to be said for the fact that Edward could stand me looking like I did today. I'd had many friends who insitsed on fixing my hair or my clothes ten times a day.

The shower relaxed me like nothing else could. throwing on my bathrobe and skipping the mirror, I stepped out of the bathroom and ran into my mother. "Oh! Hi MOm, how was your day?"

"Fine, fine, and yours?" She was looking intently into her iPhone, so it really didn't matter what I said.

"Great. I met a mind-reader and a phsycic, then went to the beach and saw Jake." Well, at least I wasn't lying to her.

"Right, well, just say sorry or something." What?

"Haha. Love you, too, mom." And I slid into my room.

Impossibly tired, I fell to the bed and slept like a baby. When I say like a baby, I mean until the middle of the night. At that point I was awoken by two short raps on the window.

Two piercing eyes stared in at me. My heart should have started pounding, my face should've blushed immensely. But instead, I rose, wide-eyed, and drifted toward the window, unlocking and opening it smoothly. "Hi," I breathed.

Edward's POV

She was gorgeous. Her hair was damp and hanging loose and her eyes were alight with curiosity. I stared a moment at her rosy lips before asking. "Could I come in?" She answered by taking a step back and giving a small nod. Oh Lord, she was only wearing a robe. I tried to direct my eyes up to hers. Failing miserably, I looked to the floor. Something silver caught my eye, and I noticed that her bed was covered in it her bed was covered in it. "Should I ask?" I asked.

"Haha! Well it doesn't matter if I answer, you'll find it in my thoughts anyway." She said it like a joke, but I could see that it bothered her.

" I can try to ignore your mind's voice. I could try to tune it out, if you wanted me to." I think I would've done anything she asked at this point.

She seemed to melt into the chair beside her desk. " I've been trying not to think eveything I think about you too loudly, but..."

_But I want to see you all the time and I don't know why. I can't think of what would happen if something ever happened to you. And you must think that I'm ridiculous and just hung up on you and that I'm stupid and silly and-_

"Grace! Gracie, I just climbed in your window. I thought it was a really romantic move. If anything, I would have thought that you would be horrified by my nighttime appearance." I put my hand on her arm to reassure her. I certainly hoped she could hear the sincerity in my voice.

She looked up at me with big brown eyes and said, "You couldn't possibly like me, Edward. You're beautiful and wonderful and...and you can hear my thoughts! You couldn't care abot me like that. Im simply too ordinary!" She put her face in her hands.

I pulled them away gently, "What are you talking about? You're the most amazing girl I've ever laid eyes on."

_No, I'm not._

I stared at her eyes as she studied my face. "Your mouth is perfect and pink. It's in fantastic contrast with you pale skin. I have to stop here because once I leave your face, the description might get a little embarassing." She blushed like mad. "But I could talk for hours about the layers of your mind."

_I'm uninteresting, and you know it._

"That's not true! You lovereading, but you would never pick up a People magazine or US weekly if your life depended on it. You read books with depth, and expect your friends to have that same depth. Then, when they don't, you're hardly disappointed. You keep to yourself more than the average teenager, and thus, you've never had a boyfriend or been kissed."

_You know everything about me, and I"m sure you know everything I've never told anyone. You know, and you're still hanging around me. _

"Don't you get it? I feel the same way about you that you feel about me. I want you to know everything about me, too."

_I'm so tired, Edward, could we please do this in the morning?_

"I can't stay, Grace. Carlisle would notice if I was gone in the morning." Her face fell considerably.

_Oh. Well then, goognight, I guess. _

"There's just... there's one thing you need to hear. Grace, nothing with me is going to be normal. Just please don't ever think badly of me."

_I couldn't and I wouldn't. _

Her smile lit up the room. She rose from the bed and kissed me softly on the cheek.

"Goodnight." I smiled widely before climbing out of the window and thudding into the grass below.

Stepping into the red car, I thought how lucky I was that she would pick me.


End file.
